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From Your Health Journal…..”I wanted to share a very interesting article with my visitors from Babble (courtesy of Disney) written by Heather Neal, MS, RD, LDN. As we know, childhood obesity is on the rise in many areas of the world, along with illness associated with it such as heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, weak joints, and asthma. Change is needed, and quickly. There is no easy solution is site, but small steps on a regular basis will have big effects later on. The ‘art of walk’ is becoming a thing of the past, as so many children do not walk to places – a friends house, school, the store. Ms. Neal points out many excellent facts, including how a new study shows that kids are less likely to be overweight if they live in walkable neighborhoods, meaning they live within walking distance to parks and retail stores. It makes sense, as parents want their children to always be in a safe environment. Please visit the Babble web site (link provided below) to read the complete article. It was well written and informative.”

From the article…..

Are you sick of hearing about childhood obesity? The term childhood obesity epidemic is popping up everywhere and we’re not likely to see that stop any time soon. It’s a huge issue, but it’s a prime example of something in which the tiniest of steps can make a huge impact.

In this case, actual steps can help us fight this battle. A new study shows that kids are less likely to be overweight if they live in walkable neighborhoods, meaning they live within walking distance to parks and retail stores. This Canadian study revealed that even after adjustments were made for other factors such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, age, gender, and more, the walkability of a child’s neighborhood was associated with BMI. Over 3,000 Toronto children were followed in a study called TARGetKids! (The Applied Research Group for Kids) in order to determine whether factors in early childhood (0-5 years) are related to health problems later in life.